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The Chapter 13 plan payment is based on a number of different factors and each case is different. First, we have to look at the income and the expenses of the debtor. Income is based on all sources of income, whether it is employment, unemployment, workers comp, disability, child support, maintenance, investment income, rental income, support from family members; any sort of income must be calculated in a Chapter 13 under Schedule I. We then look at Schedule J which are the monthly expenses that the debtor incurs; everything from rent, mortgage, auto payment, insurance, food, clothing, utilities. You name it, if you are spending it per month, charity, church payments, childcare, tuition, IRS installment payment; it all must be listed under Schedule J. The difference between Schedule I income and Schedule J expenses will determine what you are required to pay under a Chapter 13 repayment plan.
We also then must look at what you are actually paying back. How much do you have in mortgage arrearages? How much are you paying back on a financed vehicle? Do you have student loans debt? IRS debt? Child-support debt? Miscellaneous credit card debt? We look at all those different factors to determine whether or not the amount you have available per month is enough to fund a Chapter 13 plan that will pay back either all or a portion of your debt over time. If you don’t have the ability to pay back the proper amount, then a Chapter 13 case will not be feasible. If you have the ability to pay back more than what’s required, you will only be required to pay back what you actually owe.
So there are a number of different factors that go into play on how much you’re going to pay and for how long and importantly, what percentage on the dollar are you going to pay back to general unsecured creditors. This is a complicated formula. You need an expert or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney who practices every day in this area. Do not go to someone who is not familiar with Chapter 13, your case will be a disaster.
There are two prongs that have to be satisfied for Chapter 7 for the most part. Firstly, you must be either under the median which is the dollar amount per family size that the government has set; or if you are over that median, you must pass the means test which is a mathematical formula based on all of your income and expenses, showing that you don’t have the ability to repay your creditors over time.
If you can satisfy those two requirements under Chapter 7, then you make it to the next prong which basically says, do you have the ability, income minus expenses, to pay your creditors. If you are showing a surplus, then it is quite possible that Chapter 13 might be required. If, however, you are breaking even or if you are losing money each month and you are under the median or you otherwise pass the means test, then you don’t have the ability to reorganize your debt and you will be granted a fresh start.
Now, you must not have filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and received a discharge within the last eight years. You must provide your most recent federal tax return and you must provide two months worth of paycheck stubs or other proof of income prior to your case being filed. You also must take a credit counseling session before the case is filed and then after the case is filed, you must take a two-hour financial management class. Provided you can satisfy those requirements, then you will qualify for a Chapter 7. In the event you do not qualify for Chapter 7, your attorney will advise you as to how Chapter 13 can work for you.
You’ve filed your chapter 13 bankruptcy paperwork and submitted your schedules and payment plan. The meeting of creditors is completed and you’ve answered the trustee’s questions. The next step in the process is your confirmation hearing. In some courts, the confirmation hearing will happen on the same day as the meeting of creditors. In [...]
You’ve filed your chapter 13 bankruptcy paperwork and submitted your schedules and payment plan. The meeting of creditors is completed and you’ve answered the trustee’s questions. The next step in the process is your confirmation hearing. In some courts, the confirmation hearing will happen on the same day as the meeting of creditors. In […]The post The Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Confirmation Hearing appeared first on Tucson Bankruptcy Attorneys Trezza & Associates.
When an individual files for bankruptcy protection they are required by law to disclose all of their assets and all of their liabilities. What exactly does that mean?
Assets are possessions. They are the things that we own or have some sort of interest in. Our homes and cars are assets even if we owe the bank money for a lien they hold on these assets. Our bank accounts, cash in our wallets and even the wallets themselves are all assets. It is important when an individual files for bankruptcy that they list all of the things they own regardless of how much these assets are worth. Broken down vehicles, costume jewelry and pets may not be worth a great deal of money, and certainly are not things a trustee would be interested in liquidating, but failure to list these items could put your bankruptcy discharge in jeopardy.
Additionally, individuals are required to list everyone they own money to. This includes back child support, student loans, credit cards, mortgages and other traditional debts. It also includes loans owed to your parents, fiance, siblings, business and other non-traditional debts. Many times debtors are reluctant to list there non-traditional debts out of fear that they will not be allowed to repay the money they owe to these individuals. In fact, voluntary payment on discharged debts are perfectly legal and while failing to list them will harm your chances at discharge, repaying them after discharge will in no way violate the law.
Bringing you the most up-to-date news, tips and blogs throughout the web. Here’s your Bankruptcy Update for April 25, 2013 Bankruptcy judge issues arrest warrant for former Michael Jackson doctor Big city waste contractor in bankruptcy sale Fisker Automotive, struggling plug-in hybrid automaker considering filing for bankruptcy
While many consumers struggle to make payments on their medical bills, there are doctors facing a similar struggle; except it involves keeping their businesses afloat. The American Bankruptcy Institute’s health care committee has noticed a spike in Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings by doctors with 8 being filed in recent weeks alone. Industry experts have noticed [...]
Due to severe budgetary constraints, the United States Trustee is no longer designating bankruptcy cases for random audits. Bankruptcy attorneys across both Oregon and Washington who had to cope with the burdensome audit requirements aslong with their clients are now breathing a heavy sigh of relief
Ever since the enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), Debtor’s counsel across both Oregon and Washington had to cope with the prospect that any one case filed in either state might be subject to a random audit. This is so because the BACPA established procedures for independent audit firms to review not only the Schedules filed in a given case but the supporting documents relied on to support the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing.
The documentation required by the audit firms were extremely burdensome to both bankruptcy filers and their attorneys. While the audits were random to both the attorney and government, it was often difficult to convince a bankruptcy filer that the audit wasn’t personal or that their attorney hadn’t somehow messes things up. Even worse, the audits themselves were wholly conducted by third party accounting firms that had very little knowledge of the ins and outs of consumer bankruptcy. The paper requirements that they would impose on chapter 7 bankruptcy filers might have been more properly used on corporations. Here’s hoping that the random audits never come back.
If you have any questions about audits or what kind of review is likely to take place after you file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, please feel free to contact me any time or set an appointment at any one of our bankruptcy law offices in Portland, Salem, Vancouver or Seattle. I will look forward to hearing from you and getting your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case filed.
The original post is titled United States Trustee Ends Random Audits For Oregon and Washington Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cases , and it came from Oregon Bankruptcy Lawyer | Portland, Salem, and Vancouver, Wa .
One of the most important elements debtors should review when considering bankruptcy is how personal debt is handled by the court. When you file, you are required to list outstanding debt including loans owed to friends or family. Depending on the chapter you file they are handled differently. For the most part, these types of [...]
Here at Shenwick & Associates, we often get questions from clients if they may transfer a house or an apartment from one spouse to the other after being sued or prior to a bankruptcy filing. In In re Panepinto, Case No. 12-11230K (Bankr. W.D.N.Y., Feb. 25, 2013), an upstate Bankruptcy Court considered this question and held that such a transfer could be a fraudulent conveyance and set aside.
In this case, in 2008 a judgment creditor was seeking to collect on a debt owed by Mrs. Panepinto, an insolvent who owned a house with no mortgages or other liens encumbering the property. So, to thwart her judgment creditor, she transferred the house to her husband with no consideration for the transfer.
Last year, Mrs. Panepinto filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, and her judgment creditor sought to set aside the transfer as a fraudulent conveyance under New York Debtor and Creditor Law §273. The Bankruptcy Court sustained the judgment creditor's challenge to the transfer.
The lesson is that before transferring ownership in property, a debtor should seek advice from an experienced bankruptcy attorney, such as Jim Shenwick.
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